nunc faciebat genuflexiones nunc insinuosas1 manuum
tripudia
ciones cum valde mira illaritate tripudians2 coram dilecta.3 Que
gesta dum perpenderet
quidam monachus retro uirum Dei non mul
tum prope stans clam recessit a loco
stacionis sue ne forte ingrueret
contra illum si tunc forte4 motus gaudentis increpasset5 putatiue fatuos &
inordinatos ira sancti viri, qui postmodum ueniens ad tripudiatorem
ge
nitricis Dei quesuit ab eo quid gaudii haberet quando tali * & ta
li hora tripudiabat coram illo inquid altari ad
quem uir Dei
obsecro te per uirtutem Dei & misericordiam sue matris ut nemini
dicas in
vita mea uisionem quam6 uidi & dicam eam tibi
quam cum aperuisset illi
pollicitus est est ei monachus nunquam se
reuelaturum cuiquam uisionem eius
illo superstite sed querente monacho quare mater
Dei non potuisset ui
deri a se cum tam prope illos staret respondit ei alter7 non ostendit se Dei
genitrix nisi familiaribus suis a
longo tempore deuote sibi fa
mulantibus cum obsequiis que sunt de genere bonorum
operum.
[D]e beato uiro isto libet referre unum adhuc miraculum quod Deus
operatus est pro eo longe post obitum suum. Erat enim in dicto mo
nasterio
Melrosensium homo quidam monachus grandeuus Willelmus de
Duns nomine
tante cecitatis mira strictitudine percussus ut si uel
ipse uel alius manum suam
admoueret ad aperiendum palpebras oculo
rum eius nequaquam aperiri potuissent hic
nimirum multis diebus dolens pro
priuacione uisus luminum suorum demum rogauit8 custodem sibi depu
tatum ut duceretur ab
eo ad tumulum sancti uiri cuius modo feci mencionem.
Cuius etiam familiaritatem
promeruerat monachus cecus factus ante mi
gracionem eius ex hac uita ad Christum.
Cum uenisset ergo ad sepulcrum ipsius
procidens super genua orauit dicens domine
Adam sicut ueraciter credo quod
Deum ex toto corde dilexisti in uita tua & cum
illo es in eterna uita postquam
uocatus fuisti a nobis ad ipsum sic queso ut uelis
effundere preces pro me ad
illum ut per \te/
recipere merear lumen oculorum meorum quod peccatis meis
exigentibus
amisi memento care amice /\
dilexerim te in uita tua & honorauerim
prout potui
quando uoluisti. Erat enim sacrista monasterii cecus iste mi
he now made genuflexions, now complex movements of his hands,
rejoicing with extraordinary cheer in the presence of the beloved lady. While a certain
monk standing not far behind the man of God observed these actions, he secretly moved
back from the place where he was standing lest by chance the anger of the holy man
should assail him if he had then declared the movements of rejoicing as supposedly
foolish and excessive. And afterwards, approaching the one who rejoiced before the
Mother of God, he asked of him what gave him such joy when, on such a * and such an hour he was rejoicing before such an altar? To
whom the man of God replied, ‘I beseech you, by the power of God and by the mercy of his
Mother, that as long as I am alive you tell no one about the vision which I have seen,
and I will tell you about it.’ And when he had disclosed it to the monk, the monk
promised that he would never reveal his vision to anyone as long as the other survived.
But the monk asked why it was that the Mother of God could not be seen by him, since he
was standing so near to both of them; and the other one answered him, /\
the Mother of God reveals herself only to those who have
served her devoutly for a long time, by rendering her such services as have in
themselves the nature of good works.
There is still one more miracle worth telling
about this blessed man, which God performed for him long after his death, for in the
monastery of Melrose there was a man a certain very old monk, named William
of Duns; he was very blind, smitten by an extraordinary tightness, so that if either he
or another person applied his hand to open his eyelids they could by no means be opened;
sorrowing now for many days on account of the loss of the sight of his eyes, he
eventually asked three times that the attendant assigned to him might lead him to the
tomb of the holy man of whom I have just made mention, whose close acquaintance the
blind monk had also earned before his passage out of this life to Christ. So, when he
had reached his tomb, falling on his knees he prayed, saying, ‘O sir Adam, just as I
truly believe that you loved God with your whole heart during your lifetime, and that
you are with him in eternal life, having been called from us to himself, so I ask that
you would offer up prayers for me to him, that through you I may be worthy to receive
the light of my eyes which I have lost, my sins demanding it. Remember, dear friend, /\ I loved you during your lifetime, and that I have done you honour to
the best of my ability when you wished it.’ For this blind man had formerly been the
sacrist of the monastery,